Jules rushed to the gaming hall, and his mouth dropped when he saw that over 80% of the gang members were inside their gaming pods.
A few were discussing things among themselves and then moving back to their pods. These guys most likely spawn near one another.
He was sure that both the boss and vice leader must have a meeting with other members. Otherwise, there was no way these guys wanted to play the game on their own.
He ignored others and walked back to the hall toward his gaming pod.
Before jumping in his pod, he tapped on the side of the gaming pod, and a small compartment popped out.
He placed his mobile phone inside the compartment, and a red light passed through the phone, and the compartment closed automatically.
Jules smiled. Now he did not have to stress his eyes on his mobile phone. He could use his phone through the gaming pod, increasing his research speed.
This was the main reason the gang invested so much in providing them with such advanced mobile phones.
As the compartment closed, he felt a few gazes on his back. There were a few who were gawking at the closed compartment.
He did not care much, as he had already spent the first day moving around the facilities with his mobile phone. He even glanced at the camera. Even if Teacher Ron saw this scene, he would give him extra credit for his research.
Before anyone disturbed him, he removed all his outerwear down to his underwear and jumped back into the gaming pod.
He pressed the big red button with his elbow, and the gaming pod closed. Instead of logging in, he said, "Device connection."
All around him, a light green light started shining, and he found himself in a dark space with the mobile screen in front of him.
In his dark space, he could open and spread around as many screens as possible. Well, the only limitation was that he could not use this device function once he logged into the game, but it could give others outside a way to contact him.
If there was any emergency outside, they could call him on his mobile, and he would get an alert in the game. Satisfied with the mobile interaction, he logged out of the device connection mode and said, "Login."
The familiar red laser light scanned his body.
[Player Glitch detected, logging back to Universal Online.]
The big Universal Online logo appeared before his face, and everything blacked out.
…
Glitch opened his eyes and found himself back in the dark alley. Before he could organize himself, multiple notifications popped up in front of him.
Ding!
[+2 essence given to you.]
[Warning!
You can only store 10 essences without the essence storage.
(Note: Ruler will get essence storage at level 10.)]
He nodded his head. Only 3 more days, and he would reach the essence limit. He dismissed the notification and looked around. There were a few people occasionally passing from the road in front while maintaining a sufficient distance from the alley.
He noted that and then closed his eyes, trying to connect himself with Lark, and said, "Lark, teleport me back."
After a few seconds of waiting, he heard Lark's surprised but excited voice say, "OK, boss."
A notification popped up in front of him.
[Teleportation is in process. Timer: (30 sec)
(Note: Any movement of position would cancel the teleport) ]
It was the same when he got out of the space village. The good thing was that now Ckiukuji town was his transfer location. But he could not teleport back to the first village.
Soon the timer hit 0, and a bright light engulfed him.
Zap!
…
Glitch opened his eyes and found himself back on the black land full of stars. Little Lark also floated toward his location.
Glitch tried to teleport toward Lark, but nothing happened. He clicked his tongue in the realization that the space village was still incomplete.
This was Shakhan's village with no Shakhans; until he took out the Shakhans, there were a lot of functions that were still locked for him.
Lark came next to him and bowed a little. "Good to see you, boss." Glitch raised his eyebrows. Even though he told Lark not to call him master, he was still treating him like his master.
He sighed and said, "No need to be so tense."
Lark just nodded his head, like he accepted his order, with no change in his body posture.
Glitch did not force much, as he knew it would take time for them to form a partnership.
He stopped thinking about the Lark's behavior and asked with a smile on his face, "So, how's the forest? Anything unusual?"
Lark gave him a paper and said, "Everything went as you expected, boss. There were a few areas where boars got into trouble, but after a little intervention, now the entire forest is full of boars."
Glitch looked at the rough map in his hand and asked, "What about others?"
"White-horn rabbits and foxes have already spread around the 10 sub-regions, but for now, slimes are only in 8 regions. As for deer, they do not have a fixed home. Instead, they form these big herds that travel from one region to another."
"But boss, from the speed at which they are giving birth and eating grass, soon it will be difficult for new plants to germinate in the forest. These deer especially camp in the central region, eating all the grass in that region."
Unlike the concerned Lark, Glitch just nodded his head. He knew the nature of prey animals; most of the herbivores were peaceful and easy to handle, but with no hunters, they would become the bane that stopped the development of the forest.
Animals like deer, if left unchecked, would eat all the new germinate flora. He looked at the rough map in his hand. Lark did more than he expected. Not only did he draw the regions, but he also marked all the colonies of the animals in the forest.
Even though only a day passed outside, within the space village, 20 days had already passed. This, along with the sped-up growth rate provided by Space Village, increased the number of prey creatures by over 10 times.
As all the prey were normal-grade creatures, this number could be higher. So obviously, this surplus increase in their number would place a sudden burden on the forest.
He looked at Lark and assured him, "Well, don't worry. Once we introduce hunters, they will revert to their natural state."
Lark looked at him with wide eyes and then nodded his head.
Glitch smiled at his reaction and then started floating toward the central region. It was time to meet his species.